Did you know that you could stand on an ostrich’s egg and not break it?
We visited an ostrich farm during our last trip to Cagayan de Oro. A must-see, the farm is only 30 minutes’ drive from the city and near the airport. The roads to the farm are not yet fully paved except when going uphill, but that helps make it more accessible.
We insisted on riding the bus even if our tour guide was worried we would not make it because of the muddy roads due to the rain.
The Philippine Ostrich and Crocodile Farm Inc. is the first ostrich farm in the country. It was started by engineer Lorenzo Limketkai and his son Heintje. Heintje went to Australia to train for one month.
The Limketkais brought in the first batch of birds in July 1996 and after six months, an ostrich successfully laid the first egg.
The farm is not really built as a tourist destination, so it’s really just a farm with no frills. There are around 800 ostriches on the farm and they have a lifespan of 50 to 70 years, but the ones we’re breeding only have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years.
The ostriches are divided into different groups and areas according to age. They separate the male stud, which has his own enclosure breeding.
On the farm, they showed us some ostrich eggs which are so big and so hard! One can stand on them and they won’t break. It’s so nice to travel with Renato Enriquez and Tita Tess (Tokie Tantoco-Enriquez) because they are so game for anything and are very adventurous.
You can eat an ostrich egg just like you eat any egg — fried, scrambled, omelete, among others. I hope I can try it one day. My dad (Jun Lopez) used to love these things. He used to have an incubator and hatched a few eggs from his pets in the house.
Ostrich meat is sold to gourmet restaurants. In my house, ostrich is not gourmet food. Rather, it’s a staple — my dad switched to ostrich meat many years ago and does not eat red meat anymore. It’s a healthier alternative to red meat because it is low in cholesterol, low in calories, and low in fat. So our cook, manang Flor, can do all sorts of dishes with the ostrich. She substitutes it for meat, so we can have ostrich salpicao, ostrich tagalog instead of beefsteak tagalog, ostrich tonkatsu, and many more. We just buy the Big Bird Ostrich meat in Rustan’s Supermarket where it is always available in the frozen meat section.
This is also a crocodile farm, but there are only four crocs for now.
Our family loves animals — from my lolo (Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco), to my dad and mom (Menchu Tantoco-Lopez), and Renato and Tita Tess. We enjoyed so much just being on the farm. We found out we could buy an ostrich so my animal-loving family already placed their orders, which will hopefully arrive in Manila soon to be part of the family.
